The Hinderer

We can’t ignore the facts. The Devil and his evil spirits exist, and they oppose God’s children every chance they get. The last thing the Devil wants is for God’s children to establish a personal link with their Savior. He knows how much good the gift of prophecy can accomplish, and he’s not happy that you’ve discovered it.

We don’t need to fear the Devil or his forces, though, because Jesus is greater than they are.1 Nevertheless, the Bible warns us to not be ignorant of the Devil’s tactics.2

If you feel barraged by distractions every time you try to hear from God, it’s probably the Devil or one of his spiritual agents trying to clog your channel to heaven, to jam the spiritual airwaves with static so you can’t tune in to God’s station and receive the message He is beaming your way. If you feel this is happening, you can put into practice the verse “Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.”3 Some ways you can do this and clear your mind of distracting thoughts are to sing a devotional song, or read some Scripture promises aloud. If you’re worrying about something, it can help to commit it to the Lord in prayer. Then once you’ve done that, you can safely leave your worries in God’s hands, and focus on His message for you.

It’s always a good idea to put the messages that you and others receive from heaven to the test. Jesus said, “By their fruits you will know them.”4 The messages that God gives are scriptural, edifying, instructive, encouraging, and uplifting. They result in the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.5 Even when God corrects or scolds, He gives us hope and makes us feel loved, like a father encouraging his children. If the words you receive from heaven bring about any or all of these benefits in your life or the lives of others, then you can be assured that they are indeed words from heaven.

If you love the Lord and are sincere in your desire to hear from Him, if you pray earnestly for Him to help you stay on track, and if you are fulfilling His basic requirements to the best of your ability, then you can rest assured that you’re hearing from Him. You can continue to ask Him to speak to you, and have full confidence that He will. When the heart is right, the rest will be right too.6

One of your best defenses against the Devil’s static when you’re trying to receive God’s signals is to try to minimize the Devil’s input at all times. He and his forces are quite active in the world today. It’s apparent everywhere you look, from advertisements to television to the Internet. Not everything you see and hear through mass media is of the Devil, of course, but he gets plenty of press and airtime. Just as God’s Word inspires our faith in God and His ways, the Devil’s propaganda pulls us his way. You may not realize it at the time, but that negative input has an effect on your spirit.

It’s like the old saying, “You are what you eat.” Just as you are what you eat, physically, you are what you read and watch and listen to, spiritually. The more of the Devil’s propaganda you take in, the further you will drift from the Lord and His Word, and the harder it will be for you to receive God’s messages. If you’re not sure about some of the things you take in throughout the day, ask yourself, “What effect does it have on me?”